SleetGray Rain
by Senket
Summary: Ryuzaki never wanted his life to turn out the way it did, but series of circumstances will force you into situations you never thought you could end up in. Retrospective in the rain. Character profiling.


This began as an excersise to try and relieve writer's block, seeing as I'm trying to pick up my (11) incomplete stories, half of which I've known the ending of for at least 6 months, and some over a year. I have no idea where this is going. It may continue, it may not. If it does, it will be about Ryuzaki's wish to change. For some reason, I get a Seto/Ryuzaki vibe, which is strange because I'd never thought about that coupling before. Anyway. Enjoy it as the one-shot angst piece it may remain. If you can think of something you'd like it to turn into, please tell me and I'll see if I can work with it.

* * *

For a long time, he had been searching for something to cling on to. Duel Monsters had been something he was good at. Even without buying the super-expensive cards, he could occasionally get lucky and get something good in his boosters. Like Red-Eyes Black Dragon. …Except that was Jounouchi Katsuya's prize card now. Ryuzaki really couldn't bring himself to be angry at the situation. He'd been manipulated by Mai, he'd refused to show weakness, he'd paid the price. What could you do?

Once upon at time he'd gone to junior high. He'd been forbidden to work as was the norm. He'd asked the principal for special permission when his mother had kicked him out of his house and told him it was time to live on his own, but the man had assumed he was lying- as usual- and refused. Broke and living in the streets, Ryuzaki had taken what deck he had and entered as many 500-yen amateur tournaments as possible for the chance to win booster packs with cards he could sell. After that had started the pro tournaments, where he could actually make enough money to stop hiding out in the teacher's lounge at night and get a dingy one-room apartment. He had graduated from junior high with barely-passing grades, and knew he had no chance of paying high school tuition even if he could pass the entry test. That had been the end of his learning carrier, anyway. He worked menial jobs constantly. He couldn't be selective. The few that would accept the work of an underage boy with no talent who had dropped out of school would underpay him, and tell him going to the police would be useless, because frankly he was a no-good punk. He'd learned to accept it and stop arguing, because he would get nothing but bruises and more trouble for the effort.

Of course, once he had played Mai and her perfumed deck, he'd found himself trapped in a losing streak. He was no longer allowed to play the amateur tournaments because he'd once been the All-Japan runner up, and yet he could never win pro tournaments. He was lucky he got invitations to some of those tournaments, because otherwise he would never be able to afford the entry fees anymore.

He'd reached an all-time low when he'd been forced to sell his holographic duel-disk (his only memorabilia from Duel City) to a gang-member who was terrible at the game for a measly 6500 yen because he needed to pay the rent. He was already starving, and through some twisted fate, he'd felt bad about the whole ordeal, as though he was betraying Kaiba. Kaiba, who was a complete asshole, but at least one who had a genuine love of the duel monsters game. The only thing either of them would ever have in common, he was sure.

Ryuzaki attempted to push himself off the ground slowly. His entire body shook from the aftershocks of pain, and he was too weak to even sit up. His arms collapsed under him, and he fell back to the ground with a thud, rolling over with great effort.

Blood decorated his temple, dribbling slowly out of his mouth and from various wounds littered about his torso and arms. A large bruise was turning blue-purple around his swollen left eye, vision blurring as he stared at the blue sky from the shadows of the alley. _'Why me?'_

He had never been one to reveal his weaknesses. Sure, it seemed like people got the best of him no matter what he did, but he always screamed back at them until he lost his voice. He never cried out in pain even as he was being beaten to a pulp, though he may scream in hatred.

He felt like he lay there for hours, barely blinking as the blue sky slowly turned a purple-grey, clouds building ominously. It started out as a light drizzle, but soon the clouds burst, and rain poured mercilessly on the world, and on Ryuzaki's unmoving form. The water droplets were hard and sharp, unbearably cold. They were not hail, for they fell too quickly to freeze. Knowing his face would be covered in raindrops, thankfully most falling towards his eyes caught between his lashes, he finally allowed himself to cry.

* * *

When Ryuzaki awoke, dusk darkening the sky, he was torn between disappointment and the heavy feeling that he really should have expected the outcome. Even though he had blacked out hours ago and the storm had ceased long ago enough that his clothes were now moist instead of soggy wet, though freezing, he had not moved an inch. In the weak chance that anyone had even noticed him, they had not helped him. He could have died here, and chances are he wouldn't have been found until his body started smelling. And yet, he was in downtown Domino, not 50 feet from the prestigious Kaiba Corp building, the section which had to have the most traffic in the city.

He rolled over, trying once again to push himself up. Though his muscles were cramped from stress and cold, they were now strong enough so that he could stand. He winced as he half-collapsed against the wall, breath heavily. Every time he took in air, pain shot up his right side. He probably had a broken rib (or five), and he was rather sure he was sporting an amount of ugly bruises. At least most of the blood on his face had washed off in the rain, or so he hoped. He touched his left eye gingerly, wincing at the pain. Oh yeah, he definitely had a black eye.

Supporting himself against the wall, he moved towards the sound of cars, pain throbbing through his head. He managed to make it all the way to the intersection before he lost his strength again and fell to the ground. At least this time he was in a place where he would be found within minutes- and he was. He was barely conscious of anything as he vaguely heard sirens, and he was lifted up into a stretcher and taken away.


End file.
